The Council on Academic Affairs voted to reinstate its bylaws at its meeting Thursday afternoon. The CAA voted to suspend its bylaws at its meeting last week while it awaited a ruling from the public access counselor regarding the CAA’s compliance with the Illinois Open Meetings Act. 

Concern was voiced to the CAA by faculty over the suspension of its bylaws, as the CAA does not technically have the right to suspend its own bylaws. The right for a committee to suspend its own bylaws must be granted within that committee’s standing bylaws, the CAA has no such provision. 

The original suspension of the bylaws was tied directly to the CAA’s proposed bylaw change that would make it no longer subject to the Illinois Open Meetings Act. The Daily Eastern News pushed back against the bylaw change and filed a grievance with the public access counselor at the Illinois Attorney General’s office. The CAA decided to suspend its bylaws until a ruling was passed. 

However, members of the Council were uncomfortable with leaving the CAA bylaws as is, because the CAA is not currently in compliance with all of the requirements of the OMA, so the Council voted to reinstate its bylaws and add the proposed OMA bylaw change back to its agenda to be voted on again next week. The Council is expected to adopt the proposed bylaw change excusing it from OMA, citing the legal counsel received from Eastern’s legal counsel Laura McLaughlin as the reason why. 

Course proposals and revisions

Eastern’s Management Information Systems major saw significant changes on Thursday as the CAA approved three new courses in the major and revisions to one course. 

MIS 3000: Introduction to Database for Business Analytics, MIS 3060: Introduction to Business Intelligence and MIS 4720: Business Analytics Project were the new courses created, and MIS 2000: Business Analytics Programming was the revised course. 

The MIS 3000 course will be geared toward XML with a focus on business analytics. MIS 3060 is what was described as a “tools” course, in which students will learn strategies for business analytics. MIS 4720 is a project-based class in which students will work with businesses, conduct research or work with data to apply what they have learned in their major. 

Two biology courses were added to Eastern’s neuroscience minor, electives within this minor were also reorganized to “simplify” things for students and advisers. 

Eastern’s religious studies minor had three courses get added to its list of elective options and two courses received a name change in the minor. 

BIO 3035: Economic Botany was revised so it is now a 3000-level course and three credits instead of two. 

A new biochemistry minor was also created, the minor is designed to address the gap between the biochemistry major and the previous absence of a minor. 

JJ Bullock can be reached at 581-2812 or jpbullock@eiu.